Grants and Contracts Details
Description
Abstract:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, families of young children with developmental disabilities (DD)
faced challenges. The secondary effects of COVID-19 (e.g., stay-at-home orders, social isolation,
daycare center closures, reliance on technological infrastructure) likely had deleterious effects on
the development of young children with DD, partially due to a lack of early intervention (EI)
services. EI services are mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part
C, and provide specific therapies (e.g., occupational, physical, speech) to children identified with
or at-risk for developmental disabilities. During the pandemic, all EI service systems made a rapid
shift to the use of telehealth, wherein access to EI was dependent on families’ technology,
internet, and sufficient broadband. By leveraging and integrating two existing databases of child
outcome data (the Kentucky Early Childhood Data System [KEDS]) and detailed EI service
utilization (the Technology-assisted Observation and Teaming Support system [TOTS]), we will
use secondary data to pursue three specific aims: 1) Determine the differential effect of COVID
on the developmental outcomes (i.e., cognitive, social-emotional, communication, fine motor,
gross motor) of children as moderated by child disability, race, and ethnicity; 2a) Evaluate the
differential effect of COVID on the configuration and delivery of EI services; 2b) Investigate the
extent to which the expansion and change of of service delivery models varied by child disability,
child race, child ethnicity, and family location; and 3) Model the impact and unintended
consequences of changing service delivery models as a result of COVID on child outcomes as
influenced by family demographics to inform data-based decision making practices and policy
considerations. Findings from the proposed study will promote data-driven decision making in
policy and practice implications for EI system recovery plans to best support child development
and EI access.
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 7/1/23 → 7/1/23 |
Funding
- University of Louisville
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